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The information contained in this newsletter is intended for Maryland Cannabis Business Agents aged 21+. This newsletter is provided by the Maryland Cannabis Administration for the purposes of general updates and as a supplemental educational resource. It is not intended to replace or constitute legal or business advice, consultation or service. You should consult an attorney for advice. For compliance concerns, contact your investigator or mca.compliance@maryland.gov. |
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The spring 2025 edition of the BeCannabisSmart Newsletter finds the Maryland Cannabis Administration with new leadership. Last month, Tabatha Robinson joined MCA as the Acting Director for the agency. Tabatha comes to us from New York State's Office of Cannabis Management where she served as the Executive Deputy Director of Economic Development and the Acting Chief Equity Officer. She is excited to join the Maryland team, and MCA looks forward to benefiting from her expertise.
In this issue, MCA shares detailed information on how to accurately capture package adjustments in Metrc, as well as the addition of a new optional Metrc field to include invoice numbers on transfer manifests. We also have included information on proposed regulatory updates and updated FAQs, financing options for licensees, and effective dates for updated testing requirements. Many additional updates can be found below, such as a new industry compliance inspections tab on our data dashboard and information on our third Maryland Medical Cannabis Patient Survey (MMCPS-24), taken by over 12,000 certified patients. Survey findings include useful information as to why patients remain in the medical program and dispensary features they find most useful.
Finally, MCA is in the process of developing public-facing materials to assist adult consumers with identifying licensed, regulated cannabis dispensaries in Maryland. We are looking for existing dispensary owners, managers, and agents to provide feedback on this process and help guide what information will be provided to consumers and to identify your businesses. If interested in participating in this process, please click here to respond by March 28th.
Enjoy the warmer weather and longer days and...Be informed. Be responsible. BeCannabisSmart.
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Package Adjustments
What you need to know!
We know that package adjustments in Metrc are occasionally necessary due to issues like dilution, drying, employee sampling, entry error, moisture loss, spoilage, and theft. When a package adjustment occurs, proper documentation is key—this is especially true for “unaccounted product.” Circumstances resulting in the package adjustment must always be clearly documented in the “Note” field. See guidance below and additional step-by-step instructions can be found by clicking here. When necessary, MCA will continue to provide guidance to licensees for conducting investigations on unaccounted products.
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Sales errors: If a sales error occurs, the correct action is to edit the individual sales receipt. DO NOT adjust the package to correct a sales error.
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Clear, detailed information: When documenting the “Note” field for a package adjustment, describe the circumstances of the adjustment in a clear and detailed way. It should be easy for another agent or investigator to understand what happened and why.
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Verifiable information: When documenting the “Note” field for a package adjustment, the adjustment reason should be verifiable (i.e., via video footage, written logs, etc.).
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Data reporting: To keep track of package adjustments for your business, navigate to the “Reports Control Panel” and view the “Packages Adjustments” report.
The table below provides all the adjustment reasons available in Metrc.
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MCA has submitted two regulatory proposals for publication in the Maryland Register addressing a variety of topics. MCA anticipates the proposals to take effect later this spring and will publish all compliance guidance on the MCA Laws & Regulations page. |
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MCA recently completed its third annual Maryland Medical Cannabis Patient Survey (“MMCPS-24”). A major goal of this 2024 survey was to obtain feedback from medical cannabis patients about their experiences more than a year after legalized adult-use sales. Patients continued to report a high degree of confidence in the safety of products purchased in licensed dispensaries (94% reported very/somewhat high confidence). The most frequently used dispensary features were access to medical-only products (62% used “all the time”) and patient-only lines or hours (57% used “all the time”). When asked about potential new features that could improve their experience, top responses included increased availability of low THC products and additional dispensary accommodations (e.g. ramps, automatic doors, and/or larger print resources, as well as greater availability of Clinical Directors during business hours). More than 12,000 patients took part in the 2024 survey (as well as in the 2022 and 2023 waves), making it, to our knowledge, the largest and longest running patient survey to date. |
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MCA no longer requires licensees to submit annual agent verification reports, previously required under COMAR 10.62. This requirement has been removed on our website. |
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Metrc has been updated to allow licensees to optionally include an invoice number on transfer manifests. This enhancement is described in detail in METRC Bulletin Number: MD-IB-0097. |
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MCA is assigning the effective dates for all non-technical and technical updates to the Technical Authority for Cannabis Testing which was published on February 10, 2025. All non-technical edits will be enforced starting April 1, 2025 and all technical edits will be enforced starting July 1, 2025. |
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MCA’s Medical and Adult-Use Data Dashboard now includes an “Inspections” tab with annual and monthly counts of grower, processor, and dispensary inspections conducted by MCA investigators. This new dashboard tab helps tell the story of regulated industry inspections that enhance the safety of medical patients, adult-use consumers, and industry employees. Additionally, as the first social equity licensees are beginning to open their doors, the “Conditional Licensee” tab has been renamed “Social Equity Licensee”. As these entities convert from conditional to fully licensed*, their license numbers will be added to the dashboard (e.g., DA-XXX-XXXX) and licensees will be cross-listed in the existing Licensee tab. Dispensary licensees will also be added to the Map tab. *Note: these changes are reflected upon official internal MCA status updates; conditional licensees should not submit requests for updates. |
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 We want to hear from you
- MCA is developing materials to help consumers identify licensed, regulated cannabis dispensaries in Maryland. We are seeking approximately 10 dispensary agents and 10 dispensary owners or managers to provide feedback on upcoming education and communications initiatives on the regulated cannabis industry. If you are interested in previewing these materials for us, please complete this short interest form by March 28th.
 Reminders
- Use the Incident Report Form to notify MCA about adverse events or concerns about a cannabis business or product, including unlicensed retailers, incidents at a cannabis business, product packaging, and safety concerns.
- MCA-issued ID cards are now optional for patients and caregivers. Patients/caregivers are required to present their government-issued ID and patient ID number. Dispensary staff must always check the system to verify that (1) the customer is currently registered (2) has a valid provider certification and (3) has not exceeded their monthly allotment.
Have a suggestion or topic for the newsletter?
Send it to publichealth.mca@maryland.gov
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This distribution list has been developed from email addresses provided with cannabis agent registration. If you are aware of colleagues who are not receiving this newsletter, please ensure they have provided a valid email address in their OneStop account.
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